Singer Sir Tom Jones is granted his own coat of arms

Sir Tom Jones, the veteran singer, has chosen a coat of arms featuring a Welsh
dragon and a leek.

Tom Jones displaying his knighthoodPhoto: REX FEATURES

By Richard Eden

7:28AM GMT 20 Nov 2011

For a member of the aristocracy, it’s not unusual to have a coat of arms. For the son of a coal miner who grew up in a terrace house in Pontypridd, it is, however, something to sing about.

Mandrake hears that Sir Tom Jones has applied for his own armorial bearings. “He has been granted arms in the last year,” says David White, Somerset Herald at the College of Arms.

“The crest features a demi red dragon holding an inverted leek. The shield features a key upright, in between two trees, a play on his real surname, Woodward.”

Sir Tom, 71, whose hits include Delilah and Green Green Grass of Home, was unavailable to comment on the honour. The singer, who was knighted in 2006, is not the first pop star to become armigerous.

In 2002, Sir Paul McCartney was granted a coat of arms featuring a guitar and a Liver Bird symbolising his music career and Liverpool roots. The motto was Ecce Cor Meum, or Behold MyHeart, which was the title of an oratorio written by the former Beatle during the illness of his first wife, Linda.

Anyone willing to pay at least £3,500 can apply for a coat of arms. There are no fixed criteria for eligibility, but awards and honours from the crown, civil or military commissions, university or professional qualifications, as well as eminence or good standing in national life, are taken into account. There are around 150 recipients a year.

The College of Arms was given a charter by Richard III in 1484, and in 1530 anyone considered a gentleman had to register at the college.